Heating furnace



May 14, 1929.

A. R. MCARTHUR ET AL HEATING FURNAGE May 14, 1929. A. MCARTHUR ET' AL HEATING FURNACE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fild DSO. 27, 1927 May 114, 1929- I A. R. MCARTHUR ETAL 1,712,576

HEATI NG FURNACE Filed Dec. 27, 1927 5 Sheets- Sheet 3 May 14, 19.29.

A. R. MCARTHUR ET AL HEATI NG FURNACE 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 27, 1927 May 14 1929- Y A. R. MCARTHUR ET AL HEATI NG FURNACE 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 27, 1927 Ine/@M0215- eTffU/e E Patented May 14, 1.929.,

unirse .STATES 1,112,576 PATENT ovarios,

AETHUE E, McEETHUE am) EnwIET EARL moonE, or GARY, INDIANA, assumons To AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE competir, or PITTSBURGH, rEIaNsYL venia, A coEPoEATIoE or NEW JERSEY.

HEATIEe EUENAcE,

Application nea December er, 19er. 'serial No, saam-i,

i This invention relates to heating furnaces and, While not limited thereto, relates more a the provision of a furnace of the class deM lll till

scribed which will require materially less labor to operate, will he more eflicient than' ythe furnaces of the Iprior art, and one in which the sheets and packs will be concentrated under the observation of the roller at all` times,

In the drawings-- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, partly broken away, of a furnace constructed in'accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on the line lill-lll of Figure 1., v

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic elevation of the driving gears,

Figure d is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation of the forward end of the furnace, showing the feed and discharge con veyers,

Figure i is an elevation of the forward end of the furnace showing the conveyers,-

` Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the rear end of the furnace showing the transfer mechanism,

Figure 'l is a rear end elevation of the furnace, l

Referring incre particularly to the drawings, the letter it designates the furnace as a whole, which comprises a heating chamber F and combustion cherchera t) and lll, Gas learners 2 and d, enter the respective combustion chambers fl D and are connected to gas supply fines stand 5, respectively',

@The 4burners il and 3i are connected to air lines ti and l "which, supply preheated air to support combustion, and. these air lines are eirtended through channels 8 in the roof u of the furnace as 'to preheat the air, llt will he understood, that if desired, other means may be employed for prohosting the air than that shown., p y

rlfhe forward endof the heating1 chamber fl is provided with separate vertically spaced ingoing and outgoing ports or openings '10 and 12 through which the paclrs or sheets to be heated enter and leave the furnace, respectively,

fhe sheets and paclrs are delivered to and through the ingoinp; port or opening 1U by conveyors 13 and which are automatical ly controlled by switches 15 and 16, operated by triggers 17 and 18 which extend into the path ofv andare operated bythe packs or sheets as they pass over the respective con veyers 13`a1`1'd11.

They switches 15 and 16 are adapted to com trol the operation of the conveyers 13 and 1f so as to cause the packs or sheets to be fed into the furnacewith a minimum distance between each pack or. sheet, regardless of the width or length of each. The conveyor 13 runs at a fast speed causing the packs or sheets to be acceleratedonto the conveyer 14 against an adjustable stop 19 while the conveyer 111 runs at a relatively slow speed,

The aaclrs or sheets as they are conveyed along t e conveyer 13, will contact with the trigger 17 and operate the limit switch 15 to stop the conveyor 13 if a pack or sheet is assing over the trigger 18 on'the conve er 14 which operates t e switch 16., The switch 15 is by-passed with the switch 1G so that if no pack or plate is on the conveyer 14 the opera tion of the switch 15 will not affect the conn veyer 13., However, if a paclr or sheet is on the conveyor' 111 and in engagement with the trigger 1d, the conveyer 1d will remain stationary until the paclr or sheet passes over the trigger 1F,

A pair of vertically spaced conveyer tahles 'la and l( are arranged within the furnace in line with the vertically spaced ingoing and outgoing openings 1U and 12, respectively.,

The table lf is composed of a plurality of shafts 21 journaled in hearings 22, on the outer frame of the furnace, and each of said shafts carries a plurality of conveyer rollers or dishs 23;

'llhe table Y is composed of a plurality shafts Q1 liournaled' in heariu Elli on the outer freine of the furnace, and each. of said shafts carries a pluralityr of conreyer rollersv or dislrs 2d.,

'lhe tables fill and ll' are operated frein a single source of power, shown as a inotor Elf, through a gear unit 2d which driveslower and upper drive shafts du and d@ in opposite directions,

The Vlower or iirugoiupr table i. is divided into a slow unit and a unit er, and 'the upper or outgoing table l( is divided into two fast units, l@ and F2, at each end, and an intermediate slow unit lihe shafts 21 of the slow unit lill of the Htl Fil

lflll lull spiral gearing table X are connected to the lower drive,

shaft 29 by worm and worm-wheel connections 31, while the shafts 21 of the fast unit X2 are connected Ato the shaft 29 by'spiral gearing 32.

The shafts 24 of the slow unit Ya of the table Y are connected to the upper drive shaft 30 by worm and worm-wheel connections 33, while the shafts 24 of the fast units Y1 and Y2 are connected to the shaft 30 by The fast unit X2 of the table X causes the' packs or sheets traveling through the furnace to move quickly away from the one following 4when lapproaching the kick-up mechanism, to be described.

The fast unit Y2 of the table Y causes the packs or sheets'to be accelerated onto the `slow u'nitY3 of the table Y when such sheets or packs4 are delivered by the kick-up mechanism, and the fast unit Y1 accelerates the packs or sheets from the table Y onto a discharge conveyer 36.

A kick-up or transfer mechanism for transferrin the packs or sheets from the lower table to the upper table Y comprises a tilting table 37 which is pivotally supported on a transverse shaft 38 at the rear end of the furnace, and has a plurality of bars which normally extend along the lower table X between the'disk rollers. The rear end of the table 37 is provided with a pair of operating arms 39 which project out'wardly through slots 40vin the rear end of the furnace, and are connected to a crankshaft 41 by links 412.

The shaft 41 is driven by a motor 42 through a worm-gearing 43.

A kick-up or kick-off arm 44, having a hinged finger 45, is pivotally supported on a transverse shaft 46. A lever arm 47 is mounted on one end ofthe shaft 46 and con-L nected by a rod 47 to a crank disk 47 b on the shaft 4 1, so as to cause the arm 44 to oscillate to kick or push the packs or sheets from the tilting table 37 onto the table Y.

An adjustable trigger 48 is extended through the rear wall of the furnace into the path of the packs or sheets as they move onto the tilting table 37. The trigger 48 is connected to a bell-crank lever 49 which is pivoted about a centering point 50 and adapted 'to operate a limit switch 51. Closing of the switch 51 causes the motor 42 to drive or rotate the shaft 41.

` A disk 52 is mounted on the shaft 41 in contact with a roller 53 on the lever arm 49, so that when the shaft 41 is caused to rotate the disk 52 will, by means of its shape, hold the lever 49 in position to maintain the switch 51 closed until the shaft 41 has made one complete revolution.

A. hand-wheel 55 is provided for setting the osition of the trigger 48 to suit the varying engths of packs or sheets.

A master control trigger 56 is pivotally supported on a transverse shaft 57 adjacent the outlet opening 12 and is adapted to be operated by the packs or sheets as they approach the outlet. opening. The shaft 57 is adapted to operate a master limit switch 58, which switch, when operated by the shaft 57, will break all circuits to the operating motors of the'furnace so as to stop the travel of all sheets or packs through the furnace.

y The switch 58 is adapted to be by-passed by the mill roller operating a by-pass switch (not shown) when he desires another pack or sheet and, therefore, theentire furnace is under the control of the mill roller.

In o eration, the packs or sheet will be delivere by the conveyer 13 onto the conveyer 14. After one pack has been delivered onto the conveyer 14 and has engaged the trigger 18, a second packor sheet moving along the conveyer 13 and engaging the trigger 17 will operate the switch 15 to stop the conveyer 13 until the preceding pack or sheet has moved from tlie conveyer 14 and released the trigger 18 operating the switch 16.

The conveyer 14 will deliver the acks or sheets onto' the unit X1 of the table X which will convey the packs or sheets slowly through the furnace until the unit X2 of the table is reached, when the leading pack or sheet will be accelerated, drawing away from the succeeding packs or sheets.A When the preceding accelerated pack or sheet strikes the trigger 48, the switch 51 will be closed to energize the motor 42'which will in turn operate to rotate the shaft 41.

Rotation of the shaft 41 will cause the table 37 to elevate toraise 'the pack or sheet from the unit X2 of the table X and the kick-ofi:` arm 44 will be moved forwardto push or slide the pack or sheet from the.

transfer table 37 onto lthe conveyer table Y. The shaft 41 will then complete its revolution and return the parts to normal osition to receive the next succeeding pac or sheet.

The sheets or acks delivered onto ths table will be s owl conveyed along the unit Ya until engage `by the fast unit Yl at which time they will engage the master control trig er 56 and operate thc trigger so as to open t e masterswitch 58 and stop all the furnace parts. All the parts of the furnace will remain inactive until the mill roller closes a by-pass switch (not shown) which will by-.pass the switch 58 and again start the furnace in operation.

When the roller again starts the furnace in operation the fast unit Y1 of the table Y will accelerate the pack or sheetonto a con- Aveyer 36 which will convey the pack or sheet by gravity to the roll stand.

While we have shown and described one specific embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that we do not wish to be limited thereto since various modifications miette may be made Without departing trom the scope thereof, as delined in the `appended claims.

"We claiml. In a sheetand pack heating furnace, a heatingchamber, saidy chamber being provided with inlet and outlet openings2 said outlet opening being spaced above said inlet opening, an in-going. conve er table" extending through said heating c amber :from said inlet opening, `an outgoing conveyor table extending through said heating chain- V ber from said outlet opening in vertical spaced relation above -said in-going con veyer table, and meansoperable by the sheets and packs for elevating and `feeding the sheets and packs from said iii-going conveyer table onto said outgoing conveyory table.

2. In a sheet and pack heating furnace, a heating chamber, said chamber being pro-- vided with inlet and outlet openings, said outlet opening being spaced above said inlet opening, an in-going conveyor table extendt openin an out-going conveyor table extending through said heating chamber from said outlet opening in vertical spaced relation above said in-going conveyor table, and means o erable by the sheets and packs including a tlltiiig-table and kick-0H arm for elevating and feeding the sheets and packs from said iii-going conveying table onto said outgoing conveyor table. I

3. In a sheet andl ack heating furnace, a heating chamber, said chamber being provided with inlet and outlet'openings, said Ioutlet opening being spaced above said inlet opening, van in-going' conveyor table extend- 'ing throughy said heating chamber from said in e t openinv, an outgoing conveyer table extending 'through sald heating chamber from said outlet opening in 'vertical spaced relation above said iii-going conveyor table, means comprisin a tilting-table and pushing mechanism 'or transferring the sheets and packs from one of said tables to the other o said tables. p

4. In a sheet and pack heating furnace, .a heating chamber having an inlet and outlet opening at one andlthesameend, one of said openings being spaced above the other, roller conveyor tables 1n said chamber and spaced one above the other in line with said openings, a tilting transfer table adapted to elevate the sheets and packs from the lower table to the upper table, and means for moving the sheets and packs from said transer table onto said upper table. 5. In a `sheet and pack heating furnace, a heating chamber having an inlet and outlet opening at one and the same end, one onf said d openings being spaced above the other, roller conve er'tables in said chamber and spaced one above ythe otherin line with said openings, a tilting transfer table adapted to elevate the sheets and packs from the lower table to the upper table, means operable by the sheets and packs for controlling the operation of said ltilting-table, and automatic` means ifor moving the sheets and packs from saidtilting-table onto said up4 er table.

In testimony whereof, vve ave hereunto signed our names.

ARTHUR R. MoAR'IHUR. EDWIN EARL MOORE. 

